Page 94 of Joy Guardian
Shyanne stretched over the rocks in the shallow end of the pool.
“And she’s done a great job.” With a languid smile, she stroked her smooth, freshly shaved head. The soft light of the wall sconces reflected in the water, making her dark-brown skin glow almost like the skin of the fae. “I’m glad I got rid ofmybraids before traipsing back and forth in the fucking desert. Forgetwhatever fashion you used to follow back home, girl. These guys don’t care about how you look, only about how you feel.”
I hesitated, but not because I was concerned about the fashion. I’d gotten the pink braids because I wanted to look different, but now a sudden thought entered my mind… How different did I want to look this time? What would Kurai think if he saw me without the braids? He knew they weren’t my real hair. But I remembered how many kisses he’d placed on them.
No matter what I did, I kept worrying about Kurai.
“What does the dungeon in Teneris look like?” I asked Jotti.
“It depends.” She spun the scissors around her thumb. “The most hardened, vicious criminals, I’ve heard, are kept deep below the lowest habitable level of the city, which sounds like a nasty place, to be honest. But unless the Joy Guardian, who brought you in, did something horrific, he wouldn’t be placed there.”
I chewed on my lower lip nervously. I didn’t want Kurai to spend even a day in the dungeon, regardless of what level they’d put him on.
Jotti snapped her scissors. “Well, what are we going to do about those braids?”
Thesaraiof Prince Rha was smaller than the queen’ssaraiin Kalmena, but the gardens were just as elaborate and the furnishings just as opulent. Two- and three-story buildings surrounded the courtyard with well-kept flower beds, trickling water features, and beautiful fountains.
“I’ll get your midnight meal right now.” Jotti said shortly after bringing me to thesarai. “You’re going to love the food here. Prince Rha feeds his Joy Vessels exceptionally well.”
Worried sick about Kurai, I wondered if Prince Rha fed his prisoners at least half as well as his Joy Vessels, or if Kurai got fed at all yet.
When Jotti left, I found myself pacing in a loop around the fountain and chewing on my lip, raked by worry. I reached to tug on my braid out of habit, then remembered I no longer had any and ran my hand over my short hair instead.
I’d let Jotti cut it as short as she could without actually shaving my head. We washed all the sand out of it, and my head felt lighter without the braids, even as my heart was heavy as a rock, weighted down by concerns.
As I started on my second loop around the fountain, a male Joy Keeper entered thesarai. He came to me and bowed his head.
“Joy Vessel Ciana, Lady Dawn is here to see you,” he said proudly, as if announcing the arrival of a queen.
A blonde woman entered, running to me in a not royal-like manner.
“Welcome, welcome!” she gushed. “I’m so glad they found all of you.”
Found?Like we had been sitting around waiting for someone to find us, instead of Kurai rescuing us and then navigating the desert to bring us to safety, only for him to be arrested right after he did all of that.
“Everyone is bathing,” I informed her coolly. “I’m the only one here right now.”
She stopped in her tracks. Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth fell open. She stared at me as if seeing a ghost.
“Ciana?” she breathed out my name with a gasp.
Dawn—the Keeper had introduced her by that name. If so, she must be the prince’s lover, like Shyanne had said. Maybe she knew what happened to Kurai and could help? At the very least, she should be able to put in a word for him with the prince.
“Nice to meet you.” I softened my voice and even forced a smile.
The animosity I was feeling toward this woman was not personal. I didn’t know her and had no reason to hate her other than the fact that she was with the man who imprisoned Kurai.
“Ciana!” She grabbed me in a tight hug that squeezed the air out of my chest. “I can’t believe I finally found you!”
“Okay…Um…” I blinked, gently trying to get free from her arms, but she wouldn’t let go.
She leaned back to look at my face and finally caught on to my confusion.
“You don’t recognize me, do you? I’m Dawn.”
I knew her name, but she seemed to mean more by it than just introducing herself to me.
My eyes met hers, and my breath halted. Her irises didn’t match in color. One was blue and the other was brown. There was only one other person I’d ever known who had the same eyes—my little cousin.
